Well, I just called T-Mobile to find out when they would be making Os 4.5 available to its customers and they don't even have a ballpark date yet. The status is that they are "waiting on approval from RIM for T-Mobile to use the software".

Anyone that you "called" would have no idea, even if it was coming out next week. They don't wait for approval from RIM. It's still undergoing testing by TMobile. My guess is RIM would like them to use it ASAP.

Nope. We can do more than that. We don't need TMobile to test. Load it from another carrier. I've been testing it myself since last October!

Hmmm.... Maybe I will go ahead and do just that! I've been reading up on loading it from another carrier and, since my toy is brand new and I've got lots of learning to do, I've been admittedly nervous that I'd "brick" my phone (see? I'm learning the terminology! LOL!). Since I know you all are right about not putting stock in anything a carrier rep has to say, I think I'm gonna give it a shot!